Unfortunately, politics have gotten in the way. These bills have become political pawns.

Many private schools are willing to be accountable for their performance in educating scholarship recipients. The challenge will be in moving the debate away from politics and back to education and the students, where it belongs.

Our coalition is working toward accountability that makes the program stronger, without being so restrictive it prohibits good private schools from participating.

Don't play politics with this issue. You've got to show the moxie, the backbone.

All that is still occurring, and people are now reducing it to politics and shifting it to the blame game. It's sad that human tragedy is being reduced to politics.

I was very aware of office politics because I was so baffled by them. So much so goes unsaid. No one says 'you're a cheeky so-and-so,' no one says 'you're so moody,' nobody ever confronts anyone else about anything. But I'm very crass, and I'm very confrontational, and I have a temper. I had to be hyper-vigilant in every office I worked in.